AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Stock Position Cut by USS Investment Management Ltd

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd has reduced its position in AbbVie Inc. by 38.8%, owning 288,088 shares after selling 182,642 shares during the first quarter.
• Two executive vice presidents sold a combined total of 55,665 shares recently, resulting in significant ownership decreases for both individuals.
• AbbVie reported a 6.6% year-over-year revenue increase for the last quarter, but its earnings per share missed analysts' expectations.

USS Investment Management Ltd cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 38.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 288,088 shares of the company's stock after selling 182,642 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in AbbVie were worth $60,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,144,382,000 after acquiring an additional 10,195,284 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at $1,819,154,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 31.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,068,820,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,187 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,058,706 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,142,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 147.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,752,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $576,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641,091 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $231.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.95.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $0.67 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $210.46. 3,094,241 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,494,047. The stock's fifty day moving average is $198.64 and its 200 day moving average is $194.25. The stock has a market cap of $371.79 billion, a PE ratio of 100.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.74. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.81 and a 12 month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.The firm's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is currently 312.38%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 177,292 shares in the company, valued at $35,178,278.64. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total transaction of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. This represents a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Profile

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; Epkinly to treat lymphoma; Elahere to treat cancer; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat blood cancers.